Impacts and practical implementation of the Koto-SIB experiment

Abstract

The report assesses the effectiveness of the Koto-SIB experiment carried out in 2016-2019 as well as the cost-effectiveness and practical implementation of the integration experiment and operating models.

The first part assesses the effectiveness of the Koto-SIB experiment with the help of a randomised research design created as part of the experiment. For the participants, the Koto-SIB significantly facilitated their entry into the labour market, increased the taxes they paid and reduced the income transfers they received. The earned income of immigrants drawn to the test group during the three years following randomisation was, on average, EUR 4500 (18 per cent) higher than in the control group. During the same period, the test group members paid an average of EUR 1330 more taxes and received EUR 1340 less income transfers than the control group members. Over a period of three years, the Koto-SIB programme saved for the public sector an average of EUR 2670 (12 per cent) per each immigrant that was picked to the experiment.

The second part assesses the implementation of the experiment and the effectiveness of the impact-investing model in TE services, based on an analysis of written material and interviews with various actors. According to the interviewees, the key means of overcoming barriers to finding employment were investment in individual services, development of language skills and facilitation of encounters between employers and employment seekers. In terms of language learning, it was considered important to learn the language at the workplace and to support language learning.